Aeris Fallstar's page

aboniks,

I am glad to have turned someone into a fan!

And utilizing Something Wicked This Way Comes could be awesome. I will have to read it again and refresh my memory.

Ashtathlon,

Those were my favorites as well. Tolkien blew my mind at age 11. But after that, all of the Shannara-like rip offs bored me to tears. Then, my Dad mentioned that the Conan character originally came from a book. And from there, I discovered Lovecraft, Moorcock and Leiber. Good times!

And so far, it's one continent. If you are familiar with Raging Swan's Lonely Coast, I situated it on a continent shaped like Africa (but nothing like it in climate/ecology) in roughly the same place as Ghana and the Ivory Coast. The Ghostblight mountains run west to east above the Lonely Coast. The Halfling lands, the Reedymoors, sit about where Senegal would be.

I placed the ruins of the Elven empire, blasted by the God Skull Meteorite near Western Sahara. Picture a Lake/Sea like Lake Superior there. The Spellshadow Fields also surround this area. Think a large "Lovecraftian /Weird a Tales" plains, like the Great Plains.

I placed Krakenport near where the Congo would be. And it would be bordered on the north by The Strangle Dunes.

Binzakar would be placed analogous to Chad and the Sudan.

It's only based on the shape of Africa. Mountains, deserts, etc. are completely different.

Steven "Troll" O'Neal,

I am not too familiar with Freeport but I certainly have nothing against Lovecraftian things. I will check it out.

So, my latest Homebrew venture is a mishmash of various sources. The flavor I am going for is dark, low magic, gritty, weird.

My players have had enough of Golarion. For now, anyway.

The mishmash of sources is as follows:

Raging Swan Press' 'The Lonely Coast'- We love the adventures set there and the low key, cohesive feel to the limited area. I have made it the starting point for our campaign.

Malhavoc Press' 'When the Sky Falls'- I have worked in the fallen Elven Empire of the Lonely Coast into one destroyed by a thaumaturgic meteor strike (the skull of a dead god) that obliterates the upper third of the main continent. Anti-magic rain still falls there regularly.

Malhavoc Press' 'Chaositech'- The elves were just developing the basics of Chaositech when their Empire was obliterated. Small pieces of the tech still survive.

Fritz Leiber's Farfrd and the Grey Mouser stories- Specifically, Lankhmar. The largest city on the continent, Krakenport, is based on Lankhmar.

Places:

Major City: Krakenport- a sprawling port city, your typical wretched hive of scum and villainy.

The Ghostblight Mountains-haunted mountains, home and refuge of the Mountain Elves, the most common remaining elves.

The Reedymoors- Halfling Territory

Spellshadow Fields- Plains scoured by magical 'acid' rain. Gnomes have some small, underground cities there.

The Godfall Sea- Crater Sea cause by the skull of a dead deity falling to earth.

The Strangle Dunes- dunes and coastal marshes, home to hidden smuggler towns near Krakenport

Binzakar- home to the nomadic Dwarf clans and their herds of prehistoric Glyptodons (giant, car sized armadillos) or Giant Ground Sloths or possibly Wooly Rhinos.

So, all of that being said, can anyone think more flavor/sources of flavor to help me develop the world further?

Dude, thank you. I can't say it enough: you people rock.

I have to say, that the Tactician's Go-Ke and the Gauntlets of Earth Shattering and Devouring were my two favorite items! I loved them more than my own and intend on using them in my own game!

Kind of sad I didn't crack the Top 100. Oh well. Here goes...

Chillforge Stein
Aura moderate Abjuration; CL 5th
Slot none; Price 6,500 gp; Weight 4 lbs.
Description

A Chillforge Stein is a large electrum drinking vessel that typically depicts epic deeds or a family coat of arms around its circumference. All beverages poured into the stein are automatically chilled and the magic that causes this effect is meant to obscure the stein's actual function. The base of the stein is cast in counter relief and is used as the matrix of a wax seal reserved for the most sensitive of messages; anyone who sips from the stein feels a probing, icy touch upon their heart. Drinking from the stein conveys immunity from its true application.

Once the stein has been used to press a wax seal on any document or surface, the wax is imbued with the explosive runes spell. The seal will explode if broken by someone who has not sipped from the stein.

Immunity can be revoked by a successful dispel magic spell targeted on the individual.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, endure elements,explosive runes, 4 lbs. of electrum Cost 3,250 gp

I must have been looking in the wrong places last year. I saw very little negativity after the Top 32 were revealed. And when it was deemed appropriate, I saw a lot of constructive criticism all around, my item included.

That being said, I found the best way to handle my own disappointment was to go find the Top 32 item that I loved the most and make sure to tell that person how awesome it was.

If you can't push for your own item (and contestant) anymore, find one you love and get behind them. I know it helped me get over my disappointment.

+100 Feros

We have a house rule that states if you roll a natural 20, then roll to confirm and roll another natural 20, you get to roll a third time. If you roll a natural 20 on that third roll, that's it: Autokill, regardless of hit points,Mac, etc.

In three years, it hasn't actually happened yet. But we all hope to see it.

Ok. OP here. It went well last night. We adopted a combination of the angles mentioned here:

The Goblin PCs were a combination of 1) survivors of a rival tribe to the Thistletop goblins and 2) they fled and while running, came upon Sandpoint. They nearly kept on going when they found the Sheriff in trouble and couldn't just leave him to be attacked by a goblin commando. After helping him out, the sheriff brought them back and encouraged Father Zantus to give them sanctuary in the new church.

Most of the townspeople still hate them but they are tolerated. No one will violate the church to harm them at night but if they are found alone by the wrong person or group, they might get beaten or worse, lynched.

After the initial goblin attack, they have won a few more over to their cause.

I think, as far as real world analogues, they are in a situation similar to that of a freed slave in post Civil War South, or a Sioux scout aiding a small village to prevent them from being slaughtered.

But, all in all, it went well.

What if the golden dragon avatar isn't a real avatar at all, but someone trying to deceive them. And the beggar is a true avatar trying to gently nudge them on the straight and narrow?

I love Lawyer Evil, especially since I work with lawyers and a majority of them fit the description.

It reminds me of a friend's old saying that D&D only had two evil Alignments: Lawful Evil, otherwise known as Paul Reiser Evil ( his character Burke from Aliens ) and Chaotic Evil otherwise known as Aliens Evil.

" It was a bad call, Ripley, a bad call..."

I joke around with my friends that "Back in my day, you didn't find NORMAL people to game with, much less hot college-aged chicks with Dr. Who fetishes. You gamed with society's cast offs, because they were the only people willing to bring up their character in a public place. You gamed with the smelly guy, the 300 lbs. Wiccan with 20 lbs. of mascara, and the dude who peed himself a little every time he tried to talk to a woman. And you just kept growing that colony of weirdos until someone lassoed another couple of regular people into the group. Then, when you had three or four people who all showered, they snuck away together and formed a real group."

+100

This pretty much sums up the experiences of my formative RPG years. For the longest time, it seemed to be a crowd of black t-shirts (either stretched to their tensile limits or draped upon some skeletal coatrack of a guy) with red dragons breathing fire wrapped around the torso, marinated in Jolt Cola and BO.

I don't think we got an actual female player until, oh say, 1993. And she really needed a shave.

I am now happily married with two kids, but I still have to fight the reflex to, "Never, ever speak the terms dungeon, dragon, armor class, alignment or elf in mixed company. Never mention that you game until you've been dating at least six months, AND IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, Never introduce her to your group until they have all showered and changed clothing.

Fun times. Fun times.

Mythic twist?

Oh man, I hope not. I am not excited about the Mythic stuff and haven't been impressed. I don't know what the twist will be but that is the one I want the least. The odds of me making it that far are quite slim, but I'm so unimpressed by the Mythic Stuff, that I think it would rob my enjoyment of watching the best competitors.

I'd love to see a low CR Monster. Low CR would be tremendously challenging. Now that would show some chops.

Dude. You are a God.

Thank you very, very much.

Hey, was that a Freudian slip?, rather than a spelling error?

Crit-mas?

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

Thanks, Chris, Anthony and Vic.

The coolest thing about this contest may be how much an old pencil and paper guy is learning just to submit, since I am historically computer-phobic.

How to Train Your Dragon

Dude.

I can't believe what I've been reading. This group reads like a budget committee planning session.

If it works for you all, fine, but holy cow, it must be dry as Hades.

I'd have found a new group so fast your head would spin. Just make characters and play for Desna's sake!

And if I stayed, I'd find a way to optimize a Bard into a tank just to spite the group, then consider it an honor to be asked to leave.

In short, you cannot calculate, spreadsheet, ratify or shoehorn your way to fun and enjoyment, which by the way, is the purpose of playing.

I wonder if this is how the Borg would play an RPG?

This the best Paladin thread ever. Just saying'.